Verdi’s “Don Carlo” inaugurates the season of the San Carlo in Naples

Canceled on Saturday as a sign of mourning for the tragedy that struck the island of Ischia, Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo which opens the season at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples is now staged on Tuesday 29 November and Rai Cultura offers it live-deferred at 21.15 on Rai5.
The opera, which sees the debut in Naples of the great German director Claus Guth, is proposed in the five-act version in Italian and had been missing from San Carlo’s scenes for 21 years. On the podium of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro di San Carlo is Juraj Valčuha. Choir Master José Luis Basso. “In my idea of ​​Don Carlo – says director Guth – I focused my attention on the main character, following his perspective. Don Carlo is a fragile character, unable to cope with what society demands of him. He is a dreamer, closer to the world of fantasy than to reality. He is and remains trapped in the same space and this captivity describes his condition in the world. He can’t find a place in the cosmos in which he was born, he seems to be in the wrong place: his father rejects him and the woman he loves becomes his mother after marrying Philip II. Even Rodrigo, the only friend he seems to have, exploits him for his own purposes. All this creates in him a dark vision of the world, similar to a prison. As the five acts unfold, more and more of the characters reveal themselves in their own despair and loneliness.”
In the cast, Matthew Polenzani plays the title role, Michele Pertusi is Philip II, Rodrigo is played by Ludovic Tézier, Ailyn Perez plays Elisabeth of Valois and Elīna Garanča Princess Eboli.
The sets are by Etienne Pluss, the costumes by Petra Reinhardt, the lights are by Olaf Freese, while the video is by Roland Horvath and the dramaturgy is by Yvonne Gebauer.
The TV direction is by Claudia De Toma.